Human After All
by Son Rhandi
Summary: After reading in part the story of "Beauty and the Beast," Crona awakes to find that he has been transformed into a black dragon. As Prof. Stein works to find a solution, Crona and the rest must learn to deal this new predicament. Crona/Maka
1. Dragon Seeds

_**Disclaimer: **__I'm just funnin' with some Soul Eater characters. Let's all have fun together._

Note: Crona is male in this. I am unable to view him with a birthin' hole, sorry. Also, props to Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont in the parts proper.

"**Human After All"**

**By Son Rhandi**

**Chapter 1: "Dragon Seeds"**

________________________________________

"Basketball! Basketball! A man like me, an inspiration to all the children of the world, was **born** to be team captain!"

"That's all well and good, Black Star, but how's about checking the ball, yeah?"

With the sun beaming down as much as it was, and the children having such a genuinely good time, no one would ever have guessed that the Kishin had been revived only days prior. There was a time and a place for everything, including the Kishin's defeat, and the time now was for a friendly game of basketball. Of course, if they were shooting hoops, Black Star just **had **to be a captain…

Black Star's team consisted his ever faithful Tsubaki, while Soul's team was comprised of the Thompson sisters. Patty volunteered to play steady, but the great Black Star, in his greatness, allowed the Soul Team the extra player as a boon. Despite the escape of a languid sigh, Soul rather enjoyed his classmate's energy. Mostly.

Maka had elected not to participate, choosing to sit on the courtside bench, her nose in a book. Crona, too, not really withstanding of a game under the day's sun, opted to keep Maka company. Truth be told, though, it was really working out to be the other way around.

"Beauty spent three months very contentedly in the palace," she read aloud. "Every evening Beast paid her a visit, and talked to her, during supper, very rationally, with plain good common sense, but never with what the world calls wit; and Beauty daily discovered some valuable qualifications in the monster, and seeing him often had so accustomed her to his deformity, that, far from dreading the time of his visit, she would often look on her watch to see when it would be nine, for the Beast never missed coming at that hour."

Crona rested his hand in his palm and listened intently, allowing himself a dreamy little smile. It was easy to get lost in Maka's sure reading. "There was but one thing that gave Beauty any concern, which was," she continued. "That every night, before she went to bed, the monster always asked her, if she would be his wife. One day she said to him, "Beast, you make me very uneasy, I wish I could consent to marry you, but I am too sincere to make you believe that will ever happen; I shall always esteem you as a friend, endeavor to be satisfied with this. …Crona, do you want to read the next passage?"

He jumped a little at the sound of his name, jarred out of the lull his mind had entered. He cast his gaze downward in his usual, unsure way, then cast his sights up and uttered, "S-Sure…… 'I must,' said the Beast, 'for, alas! I know too well my own misfortune, but then I…" He paused, a little flustered. '…I love you with the tenderest affection. However, I ought to think myself happy, that you will stay here; promise me never to leave me.' The reading was flat, but at least he had the confidence to do it.

"Pffffft! What's this crap?" That familiar dark Punch literally burst onto the scene.

"Ah, the rinky-dink Ragnarok…" said Maka, more to herself than anyone else.

"Crona, what does the she-pig have you spewing? Your brain will shrink if you feed it that kind of garbage!"

"But Ragnarok…" he began, pouting a little. "This is the story of Beauty and the Beast. It's a nice story…"

"Nice!?" He snorted. "If you're going to go on like that, your balls will shrink, too!"

"R-Ragnarok! You shouldn't say that kind of stuff!" Crona turned a deep shade of red. Maka couldn't help but laugh at the poor, flustered boy.

"Like Crona said," Maka began. "It **is** a nice story. It's an old tale about looking for the person within, despite the way they look on the outside. I guess the same can be said of you, huh?" She patted him on the head.

Ragnarok simply huffed and sharply turned away from her touch, but squeaked an excited "Gu-pi!" when she presented him with a hard candy. The black blob quickly caught himself, but not quickly enough to escape Ms. Albarn's notice. A smarmy grin spoke volumes. "D… Don't think you've won anything! A pig that craps diamonds is still a pig!" And with a final huff, consumed the candy in a single snap. Maka just chuckled. This pint-sized Ragnarok was, in her mind, just a yappy little dog that she couldn't bring herself to hate.

"Oi, Crona! Maka!"

They looked up to find Soul shouting from across the court. "We're gonna play another set. You guys want in?"

Maka shot Ragnarok a challenging grin. "You ready to go, Ragnarok?"

"Tch! As if I'd lose to you!" He popped his meister in the back of his head. "Crona! Come on!"

"Eh? But we haven't finished the story…"

There was clearly no arguing with the two of them. Before he could protest any further, Maka took him by the hand and like it or not, they made their way onto the court.

___________________________________

They played well into the afternoon, into the evening, long enough to see their sun struggle to stay awake. With a final tally of the sets, Black Star's team saw victory with a streak of 6-4. Being the sort of man he was, he simultaneously tooted his own bullhorn of success while ending with a gracious offering of hope for the little ones on the losing team. Maka was sure to rub the defeat in Ragnarok's sparsely featured face, and Ragnarok made sure to fling his better insults. Crona was just glad that they could have as much fun as they did. For him, it had been a long time coming.

"So then, I guess this is where we part ways," said Soul, folding his hands atop his head.

"Will you and Maka join Black Star and me for dinner tomorrow night?" Tsubaki asked sweetly. "I went a little overboard with this month's shopping --there were just so many deals-- so it wouldn't be any trouble. You're welcome to come, too, Crona."

"Actually, we'll all be going out on extra-curricular assignment tomorrow, so we'll have to pass. How about a victory dinner the night of our return?" She ended with an aggressive little wink and a thumbs-up.

"Now **that's** the kind of talk I like to hear!" Black Star snorted positively. "After you kick some ass, come on back to our place! Tsubaki'll fix you a dinner fit for a conquering Shibusen student!"

"All right!" She laughed. "We're heading back with Crona, so you all take care! And Liz, Patty! Tell Kid to join us next time!"

"Well, it's Kid's 'Household Symmetry Maintenance Weekend,' so there was no point in trying…" She sighed. Patty just waved in her usual carefree manner and giggled.

With a few final goodbyes, the children went their separate ways. "T-Today was fun, wasn't it?" Asked Crona, timid as always.

"Yeah," Soul replied. "I never thought Maka'd ever catch on to the game, but she's been known to surprise…" He grinned toothily. Maka just took it in stride, too busy beaming about the game's outcome.

"It's… good that we can have this sort of fun when we have the time. We should take advantage of it, while we can…" Her smile faded just a little. Of course, they all knew what she was referring to. It was only a matter of time before the world would be plunged into insanity. How many more times could they play before the war that lay ahead?

They continued in silence for the duration of the trip.

___________________________

The day had already turned to night by the time they arrived at Shibusen. Content with the day, Soul and Maka escorted Crona back to his room.

"Oi, Crona," Soul began. "We'll be here bright and early to leave for tomorrow's trip, so make sure you're ready."

"Y-Yeah…" He lowered his head a bit. Even though he was Maka's partner, he still wasn't used to his matter-of-fact ways.

"We'll see you tomorrow, Crona!" Maka beamed, waving gently. "And good game today!"

"Y-Yeah..!" He couldn't help forming a little smile of his own whenever she cast hers. It was contagious. "O-Oh, Maka…"

"Hmm?"

"When… When we have time again…" he rubbed his arm, a nervous reaction. "I… Can we finish the story?"

Maka shot him a thumbs-up. "Definitely. We'll definitely finish it first chance we get." Another smile. "Bye for now, Crona. Get some rest."

"Goodbye…"

The door clicked shut, and he was alone for the night. Well, as alone as Ragnarok would leave him, which was never very much. "Cronaaaa!" Ragnarok burst forth once again, and by the way he called Crona's name, clearly agitated. "When did I say I wanted to go on a trip with she-pig?"

"This is the sort of thing we do now," began Crona, making his way to the sink. "Because we're Shibusen students." He turned the faucet on and began to wash his face. "And anyway, you always end up getting a treat or two out of the deal, so don't complain so much."

Ragnarok blinked, a little taken aback at having been spoken to so frankly. As if to assert his dominance, he gave Crona a good tug of his cheeks. "Don't get too uppity! I'll smother you with your own pillow tonight!"

"W-Wagnawok! I can't deaw with being sthmothered! Wagnawok!!"

______________________________

Once upon a time, in a far away land, there lived a very rich merchant, who had a single daughter. When she was little everybody admired her, and called her "The little Beauty," so that, as she grew up, she still went by the name of Beauty.

In a veritable stroke of bad luck, the merchant lost his entire fortune, with the exception of a small country house at a great distance from town, and told his daughter with tears in his eyes, they must go there and work for their living. Poor Beauty at first was sadly grieved at the loss of her fortune. "But," said she to herself, "crying will not solve anything. I must try to make myself happy without a fortune."

The family had lived about a year in this retirement, when the merchant received a letter with an account that a vessel, on board of which he had effects, was safely arrived. With that news, he set off, his fair Beauty wishing him a safe voyage.

The good man went on his journey, but when he came there, a dispute broke out regarding the merchandise, and after a great deal of trouble and pains to no purpose, he came back as poor as before.

He was not even thirty miles from his house when, while passing through a forest, found himself lost. It rained and snowed terribly; besides, the wind was so high, that it threw him twice off his horse, and night coming on, and with them, the howls of wolves, wondered what would become of him. It was then, looking through a long walk of trees, he saw a light at some distance. A court!

The merchant thanked God for this happy discovery, and hastened to the place, but was greatly surprised at not meeting with any one in the outer courts. His horse followed him, and seeing a large stable open, went in, and finding both hay and oats, the poor beast, who was almost famished, fell to eating very heartily; the merchant tied him up to the manger, and walking towards the house, where he saw no one, but entering into a large hall, he found a good fire, and a table plentifully set out with but one cover laid. As he was wet quite through with the rain and snow, he drew near the fire to dry himself. "I hope," said he, "the master of the house, or his servants will excuse the liberties this old man takes."

Having dried, and ate and drank his fill, the merchant, with new steel, ventured out of the great hall. At the end of its connecting corridor was a bedroom, unoccupied. Weary from his misadventure, the merchant resigned for the night.

Morning came, and the merchant arose to find a good suit of clothes in the room of his own. This sort of kindness, he thought, surely was the work of a good fairy who had taken pity on him. As he dressed, he looked through a window, but instead of snow saw the most delightful arbors, interwoven with the most beautiful flowers that were ever beheld. He then returned to the great hall, where he had eaten the night before, and found some chocolate ready made on a little table. "My thanks, Good Fairy," said he aloud, "for being so generous through the night and day; I am in your debt."

The good man drank his chocolate, and then went to look for his horse, but passing through an arbor of roses he remembered his Beauty. "Alas, if I cannot return with means to support you, at least, accept this rose," and with a 'snap', the flower was plucked. Immediately he heard a great noise, and saw such a frightful black beast coming towards him, that he nearly paled with faint.

"Are you having fun today?" said the beast to him, in a terrible voice; "So ungrateful. So ungrateful... You ate my food and drank my wine, and, in return, you steal my roses. **My** roses! Did you come seeking death, merchant? Oh, look at you, trying to escape… Those doors, you know they open inward, right?"

_____________________________

Crona awoke feeling unusually groggy. Everything about his sleep was unusual. He didn't normally dream so vividly, if at all. Still, morning was already here, and Maka and Soul would be arriving soon. He shrugged off his covers and threw his legs over the bed. Somehow, his body felt strangely heavy. Heavy and sore… He attributed it to the yesterday's long hoops session, and with a yawn and a stretch, rubbed the remaining sleep out of his eyes and sighed deeply.

"Good morning, Ragnarok…" He doled out another yawn. Normally, the black blob would appear with a related quip and a demand for breakfast, but he remained within and silent. Curious, he called again. "Ragnarok? Are you sleeping in today?"

No response. Shrugging, he rose from the bed, two feet on the ground. As he stepped forward, he felt something dragging behind him, and falling to the floor with a heavy 'thud'. Thud? He looked behind him, and was horrified to find a black mass laying lifeless on the floor.

"R-Ragnarok! Ragnarok!" He shook the limp thing back and forth. "Are you all right!? Are you……"

He paused.

His hands… His pale, slender hands had become thick, black claws!

Horrified, Crona jumped back, and the mass jumped back with him. He spun around, and the black mass followed. It then dawned on him, that mass he thought was Ragnarok, was it… a tail!?It was! His claws trembling, he slowly felt his body, running his hands over his neck and face. What… What happened..!? Why was his face so long? Why was his skin so leathery? Crona was sure he was going to faint. He dragged his feet --his now clawed feet-- to the sink, and was taken aback.

His face… It was Ragnarok's… sort of… His face had become elongated like a lizard's, and his skin was completely black, save the white X running between his eyes and down past the jaw line. He opened his mouth where he met a maw of pointed teeth, not unlike Soul's. His uneven mop of hair and his deep eyes managed to stay put. And… were those **wings**?

The boy-creature collapsed, barely holding himself at the sink basin. "Wh… What is going **on**? Did I turn into dragon?" He clenched his eyes shut and mussed his hair in anguish. "I… I don't know how to deal with this!"

_KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!_ "Crona?"

"Eeeeeeeeeeee!" Maka and Soul had arrived! What could he do? There was no way they'd recognize him in this form, and what would they do if they found what was essentially a monster where their friend should be?

"Crona, are you up?" Maka called out. "Come on, we've got our extra-curricular assignment today, remember?"

"M-M-M-M-Maka..! A-A-Actually, I'm n-not f-f-feeling too well today! P-P-Please just go without me!"

Maka and Soul exchanged confused glances. "Crona," she persisted. "If you're not feeling well, we'll take you to see nurse Nygus--"

"N-N-NO!" He pleaded. "Th-Th-That's not necessary! And anyway, I might be contagious!" He threw out a few dry coughs to support his argument. "So it's just best for you to not come in and go without me, ok!?"

"Man, there just isn't enough time in the day… Crona! I'm coming in! I hope you're decent!" Rather fed up by Crona's behavior, Soul barged in just to catch the tail end of a checkered blanket enveloping Crona at the side of his bed. Curious, Maka also entered. "Oi, Crona, quit playing around." Soul squared his hands on his hips. "Cool guys don't fake sick at the last minute."

Maka strode up to the cloaked Crona and knelt down to his level. "Crona," was her soft beginning. "You don't have to be scared. Whatever it is, just tell us what's going on. Don't be afraid."

Somehow, her words always held sway over him. "Maka…" And with that, he peeled off his cover, a snaggletooth grin meeting her.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

If there was a record for making it from one side of a Shibusen guest room to another, Maka would have broken it. She hit the wall, positively floored. "Wh-Wh-Wh-What is **THIS**!?" Even Soul was heard to make an audible cry at this… thing in front of them. Things quickly turned aggressive as the weapon grabbed Crona by the collar.

"Ragnarok! Did you eat Crona?!" He hoisted poor Crona over his shoulder and began to shake him up and down. "Spit him out, ass!"

"St-St-St-Stop!!" cried the boy-creature. "I-I j-j-just woke up like thi-i-i-i-s!! Hey-ey, Sou-ou-oul!"

"S-Soul, that's enough!" Maka rose to her feet. "I… think that really **is** Crona..!"

Soul cast a backward glance. "How can you tell?"

"…He called me 'Maka.' If this was Ragnarok, he'd have called me a she-pig…"

She did have a point. Soul cleared his throat and placed the confirmed Crona back on his bed. "Sorry, Crona. That wasn't such a cool thing, just now…"

Crona couldn't hear the apology over the rattling in his head.


	2. How Not to Deal With Dragons

_**Disclaimer: **__I'm just funning' with some Soul Eater characters. Let's all have fun together._

"**Human After All"**

**Chapter 2: "How Not to Deal With Dragons"**

________________________________________

"Ok, breathe deep for me. ……Good. Again. ……Good. One more time. ……All right."

Professor Stein looped his stethoscope around his neck, then wheeled his way across the office to fetch a tongue depressor. Crona just fidgeted warily, looking about the room. He had never really been for a formal doctor's visit. Medusa had been the one to administer whatever care he may have needed, if she felt so inclined. He did wish, though, that he could be here under better circumstances.

"Ok," Stein returned, glorified popsicle stick in hand. "Now, stick out your tongue and say 'aaaaaaah.'"

"Aaaaah…" A long tongue rolled past two elongated canines. The professor's eyebrow twitched in disgust. As if he had picked up on his discomfort, Crona shrunk and averted his gaze. "I'm sorry. I don't know how to deal with this mouth…"

Stein allowed himself a piteous smile. "Don't worry about it." Onto the tongue the depressor went. "Once more for me. Aaaah…"

"Aaaaah…"

After a few seconds of scrutiny, Stein withdrew, tossing the new refuse in the receptacle proper, but looking no more sure than he did when Crona first entered. _I wonder if he'd be better off seeing a vet?_ thought Stein to himself.

"How… How is it, Professor..?" Crona asked softly, clearly afraid of whatever findings Stein may have come across.

The older man furrowed his brow. "And… you say you just woke up in this form? Nothing strange had happened previously concerning the black blood?"

"N-No… Ragnarok hasn't yet come out, either…"

Stein paused to turn his screw, the gears in his head turning about three and a quarter times before settling with a small 'click'. "…I want to do a little experiment."

The boy-creature cringed. Judging by the look of his entire person, a Franken Stein experiment wasn't something he wanted to be apart of. His newly-acquired tail struck the floor anxiously as the Professor rolled to retrieve… something out of an adjacent drawer. Upon his return, Crona found it to be a small scalpel in his dominant hand. An alcohol pad and gauze were also to be seen. "Place your arm on the counter there. It doesn't matter which one. You'll need to roll up your sleeve, too."

He opted for his left art and complied swiftly, exposing his forearm and as much of his upper arm as the sleeve would allow. With an affirming grunt, Stein swabbed the inside of the boy-creature's arm. Midway between the wrist and forearm was a suitable spot. "Alright. Hold still for me." He took the scalpel in hand. Gently pinning Crona's wrist with his free hand, Stein slowly ran the blade across the swabbed area, making a shallow cut. The dragon winced, wondering how it was he was able to cut him in the first place. After running roughly a half inch across, Stein placed the blade into a sterilization pan off to the side. They both watched as the black blood began to trickle out of the incision. It trickled, and trickled, and trickled…

"Wh… Why doesn't it stop?" Crona began to look a little panicked.

Stein readjusted his glasses. "When you're cut, the black blood normally hardens to stop the bleeding, correct?"

"R-Ragnarok normally takes care of that sort of thing, yeah…"

"Hmm. Black blood and regular blood behave almost identically, but the key word here is **almost**." _I wonder if your blood is even able to clot naturally?_ He grabbed a few gauze squares. "Here. Press this onto the cut."

Crona nodded and did as instructed, putting gentle pressure on the incision site. After a few seconds, he curiously lifted the gauze and found that the wound had already ceased bleeding. He breathed an internal sigh of relief.

"Well, the good news is, you're not a hemophiliac," Stein ended in a chuckle. "But you'll have to watch it. You don't have your blood-hardening abilities right now, so if you get injured in the field, you'll be SOL."

"B-B-But… what do I do about **this**!?" He pointed to himself, all sorts of distressed. "The… The other students are already suspicious of me… **I** don't even know how to deal with this, so how I can expect anyone else to?" He pouted.

"Mmmm… Well, you've got those two out there, right?" He gestured to the door. "They do all right. I'm sure they'll help you however they can. In the meantime, I'll need to draw some blood to test. I'll try to uncover what I can, and work on a remedy from there. For now, just work on making use of that body of yours."

"R-Right…"

_________________________________

The aforementioned two waited outside the dispensary. Maka stood attentively, her arms folded behind her back, her foot gently tapping the floor. Soul found himself most comfortable leaning against the opposite wall, hands folded behind his head, his eyes closed, a real cool guy pose.

"Hey, Soul…"

One blood red eye opened. "Yeah?"

"What do you think is the matter with Crona?"

Soul snorted. "It's obvious. He's a big, black dragon." He sighed. "Man, you sure are dumb sometimes."

"Soul" Maka chided. While normally she'd be able to tolerate her weapon's quips, today just wasn't the day for it. "Honestly… What if… Do you think it could be a reaction to the insanity wavelength?"

"Mmrrrm… Do you think so?" Soul yawned, none too concerned. "Since it **is** a demon weapon, maybe. That Ragnarok is pretty weird business anyway. In any case, Prof. Stein will let us know if anything--"

The person in question entered the hall before he could finish. Stein pulled a cigarette from his breast pocket and twirled it like a baton across his fingers. "Professor, Crona..?" Maka stepped toward him, hopeful for answers. The good professor clinched his cancer in his teeth.

"I'll have to run a few tests. For now, I'll have to ask you to keep an eye on him and alert me to any further developments."

Her shoulders fell in disappointment. Soul placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't be so down." He cast a toothy grin. "Like Prof. Stein said, we just gotta keep an eye on him. As for right now, Crona's still Crona, and that's all that matters, right?"

Maka blinked, then smiled. She was still worried for Crona, but Soul's words did have a ring of truth. "Right," she grinned, then turned to Stein. "Can… Can we see him?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" He turned to the door. "Crona, are you coming out?"

A few moments of silence, and then, a quiet "…Coming…" With a sound that preceded him, like a long-nailed dog walking across a hard floor, he rejoined Maka and Soul. The dragon had swathed himself in a few extra bed sheets from the dispensary, covered from head to toe to tail, a slit allotted for his eyes. His efforts were cute in a way, but the shape clearly wasn't that of a human.

Soul and Maka exchanged glances. "Er…" Maka began. "Do you want to go back to your room, Crona?"

"I… Yes."

His eyes seemed sad, somehow.

_________________________________________

Sheets tossed aside, the boy creature flapped his wings in a bit of a stretch, then made his usual gesture of rubbing his arm in awkwardness. He didn't want a dragon's stretch. He didn't want to become comfortable with this. "Um… About the trip today…" He began, cringing in the anticipation of a bad answer.

Both Maka and Soul blinked in realization. With the new turn of events, it had slipped both their minds. "Maka, we'd still have time for our charter flight if we left now," said Soul, brow furrowed.

_That isn't the problem,_ she said to herself. She definitely hated to leave Crona alone in this state, but there just wasn't time for them to contact Kid or Tsubaki or whomever to keep an eye on him **and** make it to the strip on time. Additionally, they would have enough to deal with in the pre-Kishin soul they'd set their sights on without Crona striking fear and panic into the general public. "We **are** still obligated to carry out the mission. We've already selected it," she mused. "I doubt your sheets will take attention off of you in public, Crona. Actually, it'll probably do just the opposite."

The dragon cast his deep eyes downward. He knew Maka's reasoning was solid, but it brought him down, all the same. Soul began to snigger, a humorous thought popping into that skull of his. "Maybe he could just fly over the city and be lookout for us. It'd be like having a surveillance chopper!"

Crona's pointed ears perked up and Maka shot Soul a glare that would silence crying babies. All he could do was break into a nervous sweat and avert his gaze. "I…" Their attentions quickly turned back to Crona. "I'd like to help… however I can. Maka… You help me a lot, s-so…" he trailed off.

What could they do? Soul had already planted the idea in his head and she would have felt bad about leaving him to languish in his room all weekend, anyway. With a defeated smile and a nod, she consented. "We're headed for Washington, D.C. Are you prepared?"

His eyes shimmered. "Yes..!"

______________________________________

They touched down in the U.S. capital in the late afternoon. Maka gave her back a good crack. The cabins on charter flights were always so cramped. "Hey, Soul!" She called over her shoulder. "Are you ready?"

"Relax," he grumbled. "My bike's being unloaded now. Go plot our course or take a whiz or something…" Soul continued 'supervising' his motorcycle's descent from the cargo bay. His comment left Maka feeling slightly annoyed but she decided to let it go this time around. Meanwhile, Crona --donning some more convincing black robes but still falling short of undeniably human-- had taken to watching the runway assistants as they lowered Soul's bike. He had never flown in an airplane before. His normal method of long-distance travel involved a trip on the Magic Snake Express, courtesy of Medusa. This, however, had been a pleasant experience, even with their tight fit. He enjoyed being close to Maka, so he really had nothing bad to say about it.

"Crona?"

He turned around to find Maka striding toward him. "This is it. Washington, D.C. Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Yes." He stated strongly, a steeled look coming over him, which wasn't very Crona-like even with his **normal** face. The hard look gave way to a softened, upward glance, but one that met Maka's gaze. "I… don't know how much help I'll be, but I'll do my best."

Maka nodded in acknowledgment. "Just remember to take it easy. You don't have the use of Ragnarok right now, so you can't call forth the Demon Blade. When we encounter the pre-Kishin soul, just let Soul and me handle it, ok?"

He didn't have his blood-hardening abilities, either, but saw no reason to worry her further. "Ok, Maka," he nodded, his beaky face pulling into a slight smile. Maka gave him her usual closed-eye grin, then removed her right glove, extending her hand to him. Returning the smile from under the fabric, he extended his. Upon making contact, Maka withdrew, a startled little "Oh..!" escaping her lips. Crona's expression dropped. _That's right, I have claws now, not hands…_ The girl technician met his sad gaze, and opened her mouth as though to apologize. It never came, though, and she turned somewhat away from him, drawing her hands to her chest. Crona simply let his claws retreat back into his sea of robes and also turned away. The awkward silence settled in nicely until…

"Oi, Maka! Crona! Bike's good to go!"

Which worked out as a timely escape route for her. "C-Coming!" She quickly replaced her glove and trotted back over to Soul. Crona watched for a bit as she ran off-- ran **away** from **him**-- and it suddenly donned on him just how much he hated this form.


	3. Shibusen VS the Capitol Killer

_**Disclaimer: **__I'm just funning' with some Soul Eater characters. Let's all have fun together._

**A/N: **Moving and no internet makes Rhandi very unhappy. Oh well. New chapter up, so enjoy.

"**Human After All"**

**Chapter 3: "Shibusen VS the Capitol Killer"**

________________________________________

"Maka, give us the rundown. What are we looking for here?"

"Recently, a man whose soul has become a Kishin egg has appeared, causing havoc throughout the general public. He's simply known as Sniper." She flipped to the next page on her memo pad. "As implied, he's been sniping off random people, usually from overpasses…" She flipped the pad closed and exhaled sharply through her nose, disgusted with such evil.

"This place has among the highest murder rates in the country to begin with, so I can't say I'm really surprised." He paused to change lanes. "Even so, a Kishin in the works isn't something we can just pass off as a person with poor judgment."

Maka hummed a little in agreement. "This'll be a challenge, definitely. Unlike most pre-Kishin, he operates mainly during the day. There will probably be a good number of people around, especially considering where we are." She pushed back some wayward tufts of hair, and readjusted her grip around Soul's waist. "We've really got our work cut out for us this time."

"But as long as we fight without involving the civvies, we ought to be fine, right?" Soul gave it a bit more gas. "Mm, we're coming up on the inskirts of town. Crona?"

The boy-creature looked up. "We might be able to sneak you in as you are. As long as we're moving, people may just think you're a Muslim woman at passing glance," Soul continued. Crona tightened his grip on the edges of the sidecar as they leaned into a turn. "And anyway, I think you'd be less suspicious with us than you would if you were to be spotted flying through our hotel window."

Maka grimaced, plunking her cheek against Soul's back and further burying into her scarf. "You think that's best?"

Soul grunted in response. "If anyone asks, he's Shibusen, like us. Who'd believe him on his own? He'd probably end up being put into custody."

The dragon yiped a little at the thought. "D-Don't worry, Crona," came Maka's near knee-jerk response. "Like Soul said, you'll be fine with us. We'll need to go over the work area with you, anyway."

"Y-Yeah……" He berated himself for actually worrying about such a thing.

"Woah, woah, woah..!"

The bike screeched to a halt, and the trio rocked forward violently. "Jeez, Soul! What's your deal!?" Maka rubbed the bridge of her nose in a huff.

"Shut up and see for yourself."

She peered over Soul's shoulder and gasped.

Vehicles slowed to a crawl as policemen set up detours and waved traffic one way or the other, while others kept gathering crowds in order. Yellow tape covered the area, flashing lights of both cop cars and cameras filling the already bright sky. A tarp covered a long… something… They could only assume it was a human body. Furthermore, there was no trace of the soul.

Maka tightened her grip around Soul. "…We really need to hurry."

Soul nodded silently. Crona simply cringed, though whether it was from the sheer amount of people, or just not wanting to be noticed, himself, was unclear.

_____________________________________________________

The trio checked into the hotel with a modicum of difficulty. Crona's appearance raised a few eyebrows, but the suspicion didn't escalate above that. The suite itself was what anyone would expect of a three-star hotel, but the Shibusen squad wouldn't have time to enjoy the amenities. What they **would** make use of was a highly-polished wooden table in the center of the suite, the perfect size for reviewing maps.

"All right, according to the police reports, the pre-Kishin has staged his attacks here, here, and here…" Maka drew a fine circle around each point on the corresponding points of the map. They arranged themselves in a triangular pattern. "The area of attack is a three-mile radius." She paused to take a metal compass in hand, drawing a circle around her triangle center point.

"A three-mile radius?" Soul raised an eyebrow. "Does your Soul Perception even **have** that kind of range?"

Maka shook her head. "No, not nearly. What I'm hoping we'll be able to do… is keep an eye out for his vehicle: An unmarked, white van. This van has consistently been reported in the areas of the murders beforehand."

"Maka, that's like asking us to find a needle in a stack of needles. There are probably plenty of work vans that fit that exact description."

The girl technician stood up straight. "I think we'll have an easier time of things than you think." She folded the compass with a single hand and absently placed it off to the side. "It's the weekend, and considering the time of day, I doubt we'll see very many work vans. Don't forget, we have our eye in the sky, too." Maka turned to face Crona, wearing the smile she usually reserved for him.

The boy-creature simply nodded with a head free from robes' cover, strangely unaffected by her smile. "As for our plan of action," she returned to the map. "We are here…" A gloved finger trailed just to the right of the triangle. "And the van was purportedly traveling west. I doubt we'll see any more action today, so for now, let's patrol the area around this radius we've plotted. We'll travel the main road west, then continue on clockwise, keeping an eye out for bridges, overpasses, and the like. Crona, you'll have a greater field of vision from above, so if you see anything while we're out on patrol, let us know."

"I will." Another curt nod.

"Oi, Crona," Soul began. "Are you gonna be ok flying?"

Which brought up a valid concern. In those darker days, Ragnarok **had **sprouted wings, but he was the one manning the sails, essentially. "…This isn't the first time I've used wings to fly." A half-truth, but necessary to keep their confidence. "I'll be fine."

"Then, we'll leave the dragon-copter bit to you." He shot the beast a toothy grin and a thumbs-up.

"Do it well, Crona," Maka added with a smile.

What other choice was there, really?

______________________________

Flying was great.

Flying **was** great.

Why hadn't he noticed it before?

Well, at that time, he and Ragnarok **had** been fleeing from the persistent Death the Kid... He supposed it would have put a damper on the overall experience. This feeling, though, it was too good not to share. He would simply have to share it someday. Yes, when he wore his normal skin, and Ragnarok returned to his normal antics, this feeling would simply have to be shared.

There were better days and better times to think about such things, though. Snorting the winter air out of his snout, he sailed above his motorcycle companions. Although the wings were very much a part of his body, he found that they could operate as they had as an extension of Ragnarok. As such, he didn't have to worry about creating an opening for his wings in his robes. Strangely, the cold wind didn't affect him as much as he thought it would. Perhaps this was just a dragon's pace.

Still, he was a man- -or a boy or a beast or whatever-- with a mission. Overpasses, bridges, and suspicious white vans... They were reaching the tail end of the day's patrol, and while they did make note of a few particular roads and angles from which the Sniper could strike, Maka had been right about one thing: there wasn't an unmarked white van to be found. "Ugh, this is the worst. Winter in the north is the absolute worst…" Soul sniffled, his cherry red nose lighting the way.

"Patrol's almost over," Maka's words puffed up and away in the cold. "We'll order something good and hot from room service when we make it back to the hotel, so just hold out until then. Even so," she rubbed her own sore nose. "Even if I wasn't expecting to find him today, it's still a bit disappointing. Ah, turn right at the next light, Soul."

"Got it." They leaned gently into the turn.

"Ah! Soul!"

"W-What!? I slowed into it this time!"

"No, not that. I feel it…"

Soul's bike screeched to a halt as he steered over to the shoulder, in the shade of a pedestrian bridge. Maka hopped from the side car and bowed her head to concentrate.

"Maka!" cried Crona, coming in for a landing. "You sense him?"

"Mm. I'm having a little trouble pinpointing him --the nature of an assassin's soul is my guess-- but he's definitely near."

Crona exhaled sharply through his snout. "Then, I'll take flight. Soul, since Maka will be concentrating on her Soul Perception, you'll have to be her eyes. I'll begin to circle if I spot the van. Be ready."

"R… Right…" came Soul's reply, a little taken aback by the dragon's frankness, but at the same time, a little impressed. The plan confirmed, and with a flap of his wings and a scrape of his claws against the asphalt, the boy-creature got a running start and then, took to the sky.

Crona concentrated on the ground below. His wings fanned out broadly, a stark charcoal against the off-white winter sky, as he coasted the winds and kept his eyes open for this deadly white van. Really, it all looked the same from above, just a lot of grays and browns, but he resolved to do his best and to not fly too high up. As he came around low for another pass, a mechanical sound entered his dragon ears, that of an ignition turning. He veered left. His eyes caught a white van turn from a shadowy alley way onto the main road, traveling in the direction where Maka and Soul were stationed. It would be difficult to signal while the vehicle was on the move, but he'd give it his best.

The boy-creature bent his body with the wind, gliding in a perfect circle, then hurriedly flapped his wings to keep on the villain's course. Another circle, another beat. Maka and Soul were on it, regrouping to the bike and following the road as they could to keep up with Crona. A grand chase ensued, the pre-Kishin soul in that unmarked van speeding along as he came to a ramp above the children's line of sight, the tech and her protection cruising parallel on the road below, and the dragon acting as their eye in the sky. They would be able to close in soon, with any luck.. The villain's stretch of road would soon come to an off-ramp connecting to the very route that the Shibusen students were blazing. Only another mile or two and odds were, they'd have their man. Crona surmised that even in this form, he would not have the speed nor strength to plow the van in the path of the exit, **but** if he were to cross suddenly, it could possibly be enough to cause him to swerve into position. It was a risk worth taking.

Flapping as fast as his wings could manage, Crona cut the wind and began to close the gap between him and the wretched van. Just as he was about to make his move, a poorly-timed crosswind hit and took the boy-creature for a tumble, blowing him well off his course and almost completely off the pass. The descent was bad enough, but in this instant, the van was completely out of his sight. Crona flapped hard to return to his route, but alas, the van was gone, as though it was never there. Feeling a pit in his stomach, he made his was back over to Maka and Soul, signaling for them to pull over.

"Did he take the off-ramp?" He landed on a lidded trash can just outside a narrow cross street.

Soul's bike puttered to a complete stop. "Nah, dude just kept on going. What happened there, Crona?"

"Crosswind," he stated frankly, thinking back to his days with Medusa. The number of times they found themselves made fools of by them were too many to count. "He was already out of sight by the time I recovered. …I'm sorry."

"Well, I guess it falls back to you, Maka." Soul stuffed his hands in his pockets.

The girl tech gave a curt nod. "Don't worry about it, Crona," she smiled at him. He gave a half-hearted grin in response. Taking a deep breath, Maka centered herself and began to concentrate. She exhaled sharply only a few seconds in. "He's close!"

The other two tensed. "Can you pinpoint him, Maka?" Soul's question growled in his throat.

Her brow creased. "I can't be more precise, but… he's not more than 500 feet away."

The weapon gaped. "So basically a city block?!"

"Soul! Transform!"

"Right!"

His form became light, and shot to Maka's hands, a gleaming scythe. Weapon in hand, the technician turned a determined gaze to the dragon. "Crona, can you try it again? See if you can spot the van?"

Crona turned away a bit, but strengthened his resolve and looked her dead in the eye, slowly nodding to confirm the request. No one said Kishin hunting would be easy, after all… "I won't fail this time."

"I'm counting on you, Crona."

He hopped from the trash can, and with a running start, powered his wings to return to the skies. There was no way he'd let this Sniper slip from his sights again. Time was of the essence. To be so close, there was definitely a threat that he could happen across Maka and Soul. This second round presented its own difficulties, though. It just so happened that they were in a clustered area, narrow streets with tallish buildings casting shadows that could easily hide a monster on an overcast early evening.

500 feet… 500 feet… He decided he might have better luck searching within those shadows, and swooped in for a low flight. It was then a gravely, rolling sort of sound came within earshot. Crona perched on the fire escape of the nearest building and focused, trying to single out the sound from the wind and the noise of the city. Where was it coming from? Where?

And then, it crept.

Crona turned his beak downward. There it was, slowly rolling down the side street over. His eyes widened. Was this it? The van continued to creep into the intersection, the front end poking out just enough to clear the driver's-side window. That same window rolled down ominously. The dragon held his breath. Just then, something began to glint. A thin, black tube of some sort..? No, not a tube… a gun barrel! And within its range? Maka!

Her eyes opened.

His body shot forth.

WHUMP!!

BLAM!!

Crona hurled himself onto the roof of the van a scant few seconds before the wicked Sniper was able to fully pull the trigger. The van lurched, throwing off his trajectory, and his shot, once guaranteed to be fatal, only grazed her left shoulder. She cried out, more due to the surprise of the noise than to the pain.

"Maka!!" Enraged, Crona leaned his upper half over the side of the van, black claws reaching around into the open window and grabbing onto what he guessed was the criminal's gun. He suddenly found himself with a beak full of driver's-side door, as the Sniper kicked it open suddenly, tossing poor Crona into the street. With a heavy step, he lumbered out of the van, assault rifle close to his person, and curled his thick lips in disgust.

"Capitol terrorist Sniper…" Maka began, tightening her grip on her weapon. "…I'll be taking your soul!"

The pre-Kishin smirked. "Right…"

In an action almost too fast to catch, he steadied his free hand on his rifle and squeezed the trigger, sending another bullet flying toward Maka. The girl tech anticipated this, however, and artfully dodged it in time. A blur of black wrapped around the Sniper's gun-wielding hand and whipped him forward, causing him to drop his gun. Crona rotated to all fours, and with a snap of his whip-like tail, sent the devil tumbling forward. This gave Maka the opportunity to move in for the kill. Advancing upon him, she swung her trusted weapon, set to cleave him in two. For a moment, there was black, and then a smoldering red egg hovered before her.

The light from before shot from Maka's hands to the ground, and the usual Soul came forth, grinning a hungry grin. "Well, time to eat." He plucked the Kishin egg from the air as one would a fine peach.

"Hey, Soul."

He turned to Maka. "Before that, I think we ought to thank Crona for his help. Don't you think so?"

Soul cast his gaze to the boy-creature. Crona stood and patted himself down before clutching his arm in his usual fashion., staring back at Soul. The weapon just chuckled, and raised the egg in toast. "Then, to Crona…" And down the hatch it went.

They stayed overnight at the hotel and caught the first charter flight back to Nevada in the morning. Crona retreated to his room, while Soul and Maka returned to their apartment, but not before marking their assignment with a marvelous 'COMPLETE'. Upon receiving the news, Tsubaki made a grand dinner that night to celebrate, as promised. The entire crew was waiting on Maka, Soul, and Crona to arrive, mulling about the house while Tsubaki made the final preparations at the table. Liz had double babysitting duty in keeping both Patti and Black Star from getting in some early nibbles, while Kid took it upon himself to fold the corners of each napkin at the table and began to work on an appeal for adding two forks to each plate for added symmetry.

And then, the guests of honor arrived with a pleasant knock.

"Maka! Soul!" Tsubaki answered the door, smiling.

"Evening, Tsubaki. Thanks for having us," Maka replied with a smile just as sweet. The two entered.

"Huh? Where's Crona?"

"Waiting around the corner, actually," said Soul, slipping off his shoes.

"Well, tell that slowpoke to hurry up!" Black Star called out, already anxiously waiting at the table. "The man who has surpassed God has an equally great appetite!"

"B-Before that, there's something you all should know…" Maka began, a nervous sidelong grin spread across her face. "Crona's… Well… Crona's… trying out a new 'look,' let's say…"

"Huh? A new look?" Kid looked up slightly from his napkin-folding activities. "What, some sort of new outfit?"

"You **could** say that…"

"I think I get it." Liz squared her hands on her hips. "Crona's worried about what we might think of it, so regardless of whether it's actually good or not, we should humor him so as not to hurt his feelings."

"Yes. That is precisely what I'm saying." A wooden confirmation and an equally wooden thumbs-up. "Soul?"

The weapon rolled his eyes and opened the door. "Oi, Crona. Come on in."

A few painfully slow seconds later, the boy-creature took his first steps in. He was cloaked in yesterday's robes, head to toe. The others looked upon him for a few seconds, wondering what the big deal was.

"Oooooh, I see," Kid stroked his chin. "He's wearing a matching hoodie."

"No, no, no," Liz chimed in. "He's going for an Arabic look. I guess it's fitting, seeing as we **are** in the desert… Maka, what was with that disclaimer? This isn't wildly different from the way we're used to seeing Crona."

She sighed a defeated sigh. "Go ahead. Show them, Crona."

So, he did. A few seconds of awkward silence later…

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?!?!?"

"It's a kangaroo!"

"W-W-What part of him is a kangaroo!?"

"As the greatest Star here, I call dibs on having the first pouch ride!"

"Boy kangaroos don't have pouches!"

"What part of me is a kangaroo!?"

Soul shook his head. "This is why you should have said, 'Hey, guys. Crona's turned into a friggin' dragon, but don't freak out about it.' Man, clean the wax out of your ears and listen to me sometimes…"

"Maka…. CHOP!"

Dinner was lovely, for the record.


End file.
